I think my bag was the first version of the Greenleaf Bag and was made from cotton.

This was the bag before I started using it.

I found mine did indeed extend the life of my veggies. However after reading a recent post by Rhonda on her blog about War on Waste - Food, home solutions I remembered my Greenleaf bag which I should have mentioned in the comments at the time. Also as it is Plastic Free July I thought some of my readers might be interested in learning more about how to keep their veggies fresh using these bags.

So I did a search for the Greenleaf bag website and discovered that the bags have been upgraded and are now made out of hemp plus they are larger than mine too I think. I thought it would be great to spread the word about this great product which is local to me but can also be posted elsewhere and sent off an email to Helen asking for permission to use some of her photos and received one back very promptly. So thanks to Helen for the photos. I am happy to promote small local businesses if I like their products as they have some stiff competition these days.

Helen has explained the reason behind the move from cotton to hemp...' It is because we created our product with the aim of being able to
store our food safely, without exposure to chemicals. The aim wasn't to
store our food for longer, that was the bonus outcome, which quite
frankly we weren't expecting! The reason we upgraded the Greenleaf Bag
to Hemp fabric was because cotton fibre production is chemical intensive
and cotton fabric production is also chemical intensive. Then we
upgraded again into the Fresh Produce Enhancer Hemp fabric because we
had developed (after many years) the chance to work with the pioneers of
chemical free natural fibre production, which meant a more sustainable
and ethical fabric that was cleaner for our fresh food (which still had
the bonus of keeping it alive and flavoursome for longer)'.

I have a friend who I think is pretty well plastic free these days and we are far from that in our household but we can all try to reduce how much plastic we use a little bit at a time. Even remembering to grab a few reusable, washable bags like the Greenleaf Bag Market Carry Bags instead of using the supermarket plastic bags is a little step in the right direction.

I was in a cafe with friends today and noticed they were offering a discount of 80cents if customers brought their own mug. If you watched the ABC series War on Waste recently you would have seen that 50,000 disposable coffee cups are binned every 30 seconds in Australia. If you missed the series check out War on Waste: Coffee Cup Dilemma. I was gobsmacked when I saw the tram full of cups.

If you would like to order some bags there is free shipping in Australia on orders over $60. For any more information contact Helen as the contact details are on the website and I am sure she would be only too pleased to get back to you as soon as she can. If you are a local the product is available every week at the My Local Feast Farmers' Market at
the Empire and Walton Stores Farmers' Market.

Bloggers always seem to put a disclaimer of sorts on posts about products for some reason which I know nothing about so I guess it must be some kind of blogging etiquette. Anyway, I have not been given any products in order to write this post but just wanted to promote a local business with a worthwhile product.

I've been following the Plastic Free July site for ideas and storing fresh produce was a big question mark for me. I was chatting about it last week with our local fruit and veg shop. I'll check the website for the hemp bags. Thanks so much for the idea and link Chel.Kylie

p.s. My husband and I don't drink coffee (which can feel like a very anti-social way to be sometimes) but can imagine just how many of those coffee cups would be thrown away by patrons of just our one little local cafe which is very popular. I think it is great that the place you went to offered a discount for bringing your own cup/mug because it surely costs the business money to buy the disposable ones. Meg:)

The War on Waste ABC TV program has certainly made a big impact, thankfully! We've been doing "Plastic Free July" for the past couple of years, gradually reducing our plastic use by substituting plastics for cloth, glass, and beeswax covers that I've sewed into bags. I was sneered at a few years ago when I tried to buy a coffee in my own cup, but now it's fully accepted and I'm thrilled to see it happening.

A really interesting post Chel. I am following Plastic Free July as well and trying to eliminate Glad Wrap at the moment. Keep up the great work. I will check out all these links. Thanks, Best wishes. Pauline

Very interesting, I was reminded on my recent trip to California that they had eliminated plastic bags so if you forgot your bags you either bought some to get your stuff home in or put it loose in the trunk! Not so bad when you get used to it.

Dear Nanna Chel,Very interesting... I am just about to read the links. I stopped using plastic for cooking (i.e. microwave) a long time ago and do not use it in the pantry for storage either. I have jars and tins.For cooking I love pyrex and corningware all of which I have got from op shops.But I have still been using some plastic i.e. quite often the bags in the supermarket for loose produce.I am wondering if cotton that has been washed lots and lots of times probably has the chemicals at least greatly reduced as yes cotton is a very high chemical crop. My brother used to work on a cotton farm so I know that is true. Also I will go off track a bit and say I would never use tampons due to that. What a way to add chemicals to your body!As for the coffee... it endlessly amazes me that the "young and hip" who are into being green mostly drink coffee out and have coffee pod machines and so on. The litter is just MIND BOGGLING. It seems ridiculous (and costly) but there is some kind of takeaway coffee culture that is huge! As it turns out our Mums and Nans were greener than the current greenies I think! I am off to read these articles starting with the plastic reduces the life of food one! With thanks Annabel.xxx

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